A Brief History Of Front-Wheel Drive A Brief History Of Front-Wheel Drive Hugo Becker of BMWBLOG breaks down the history of front-wheel-drive vehicles in the face of a wrong-wheel-drive Bavarian future. — Ed. Advertisement In the beginning was the Cugnot artillery tractor . More than one version of the three-wheeled, front-wheel-drive steamer came off the drawing boards in the second half of the eighteenth century. The apocryphal story tells that it plowed off the outside of a corner and into a wall. And thus driven front wheels and understeer were forever linked. The United States Enters The Fray Fast forward to the opening years of the twentieth century and a cantankerous designer-inventor by the name of John Walter Christie . He created a series of transverse-engined front-wheel-drive monsters that were raced at fairgrounds across the United States. They were technological dead ends, and while seven were built, none are known to have survived. In the 1920s, a Kansas City businessman named Ben F. Gregory built around ten front-wheel-drive cars immediately after World War I. These cars had longitudinally mounted engines with a transmission in the nose connected to a front differential.

Gregory employed a novel solution to allow power and steering to take place on the same axle, adopting a de Dion tube for the front end of his vehicles. Advertisement Around the same time, motorsport visionary Harry Miller was approached by board-track hero Jimmy Murphy and his mechanic Riley Brett and asked to build a front-wheel-drive board-track "killer". Miller suggested a transverse engine layout, but Murphy and Brett wanted a longitudinal layout in order to minimize the car's frontal area. Miller did that, and the race car that resulted cleaned up its oval-track competition. He used Ben Gregory's de Dion front suspension in the process. Once tweaked and cleaned up a little by C. W. van Ranst , his design formed the basis of the Cord L29 . What's interesting is that Miller and Gregory worked with Christie during World War I, and that Riley Brett had experience building cars in Kansas City at the end of war. Unfortunately, beyond those superficial connections, no real ties have been proven to exist between those men. Up to this point, front-wheel-drive had been hampered by the lack of a solution to the odd pulsating motion that universal joints are subject to when deflected at large angles.

This normally isn't a problem on unsteered wheels (or, for that matter, on a rear-wheel-drive driveshaft) as the vertical motion of suspension travel is generally less than that of the horizontal angles necessary for steering. Effect of angular displacement on universal joint. From Wikipedia. Back to France All roads lead to France at this juncture, even though constant-velocity (CV) joints were beginning to be developed elsewhere. A firm known as Tracta was founded to build cars that demonstrated a new, easily manufactured CV joint. It was developed by Jean-Albert Gregorie (odd there's another ‘Gregory' in the mix). This joint was picked up by the German firm NAG and used in cars like the Adler Trumpf . DKW also took interest in the joint and applied it to their two-stroke, transverse-engine "kleinwagen" car. Other CV joints, built by companies like Rzeppa (Ford) and Weiss (Bendix), were available at the same time, but Germany and France were the innovators, and the Citroen Traction Avant was seen as something of a breakthrough.

Across the Channel In the mid 1950s, automotive designer Alex Issigonis found himself back at Morris, then part of the British Motor Corporation (BMC). His brief was to lay out three new cars, and work was well underway on the first two when the Suez crisis intervened. As a result of the subsequent charge towards small cars, Issignois was approached by BMC's chairman, Leonard Lord , and asked to develop a "proper" small car unlike the "bloody bubble cars". The assignment dovetailed neatly with Issigonis's minimalist thinking — he had wanted to do another small car after his well-received penning of the Morris Minor. Advertisement Sponsored The thinking for third proposal was to maximize passenger space. Issigonis started drawing and calculating space on one of his ubiquitous sketch pads. The idea for the original Mini was to stuff five people and their gear into 10 feet of car along with an engine, transmission, differential, wheel wells, suspension, and all the other bits needed to make the car roadworthy. This constraint of the car's length led to the two-box design that went against prevailing styling norms.

Issigonis had previously experimented with transverse front-wheel drive on a modified Morris Minor, but up to that point, no one had attempted to mass-produce such a vehicle. He utilized a Hardy-Spicer Birfield joint (a license-built Rzeppa), previously used in submarines, to send power to the front wheels. Another issue was the potential intrusion of the wheel wells on passenger space. The solution to this was sourcing a ten-inch wheel and leaning on Dunlop to build an appropriate tire. Advertisement The suspension had to accommodate the space restrictions and the potential for the payload to equal the unladen weight of the car. Coil or leaf springs wouldn't work, and the hoped-for Hydrolastic suspension wasn't yet far enough along for a production vehicle. Instead, the initial production vehicles utilized specially developed rubber-cone springs and shock absorbers. (Hydrolastic suspension was incorporated into the car later in production.) The Mini, which was initially targeted at adults, took a while to become hip. It took the children of those adults to turn it into a hit. And the Mini became the future. The Road To Ubiquity The Mini started the trend towards front-wheel-drive ubiquity, but the Fiat 128 added momentum.

While Audi and GM (Toronado and Eldorado) still used a longitudinal engine placement, more and more manufacturers migrated to transverse layouts. This was to the detriment of long-standing rear-engine, rear-wheel drive vehicles like the Fiat 500/600/850, the Renault 4CV, the Chevy Corvair, and Volkswagen's entire lineup. Advertisement In time, all major entry and mid-market manufacturers would come to rely on front-wheel drive for the bulk of their offerings. Mercedes-Benz and BMW remained the lone holdouts — and while Audi and Subaru offer all-wheel-drive, those offerings are derivatives of front-wheel-drive antecedents. What Will BMW Do? BMW has announced that it is planning to build a subcompact (B-class) BMW-badged front-wheel-drive car in addition to its planned potential Project i models. Why would the Bavarians do this? The logical explanation is that emissions and fuel economy requirements in world markets require a lightweight anchor for more extravagant offerings (X5 M, 760Li, etc).

There may be engineering reasons for choosing FWD over anything else, but history shows that rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive cars often die when their parent companies make the move toward front-wheel drive. Advertisement While this new front-wheel-drive BMW will be available in Europe, it's uncertain whether or not BMW of North America will want it. After all, it represents the potential dilution of the company's brand image in the vital North American market. And historically, Americans have rejected premium small cars. (There are a couple of exceptions and cars like potential ‘Project i' vehicles may have an impact here.) That said, 35-mpg CAFE targets are looming, and we're seeing BMW's migration to smaller, high-tech, turbocharged motors as a result. The question for BMW of America is whether or not it can make its CAFE target without an entry-level front-wheel-drive car. I believe that they'll do everything in their power to meet the CAFE goal without importing a premium front-wheel-drive model. BMWBLOG offers daily roundel-flavored news, reviews, rumors, and history.

Front Wheel Drive Chapter 3 The story of pioneers of the front wheel drive motorcar Part Three Consolidation Years The 1920’s were years of experiment, with finally the production of a small number of specialist front wheel drive cars, sports and luxury, all relatively costly. The 1930’s saw these joined by front wheel drive cars at the other end of the price range. In Britain BSA made 10,000 of a varied range of three and four wheeled car from 1929 to 1940. In Germany DKW started making their series of cars prefixed “F”, making over 200,000 by 1939. In the middle of the price range Adler produced the “Trumpt” and “Trumpt Junior” in large numbers, and Audi produced the “Front”, the first in a long and distinguished line of front wheel drive cars with the Audi name. In France, Citroen began their long association with front wheel drive in 1934 with the “Traction Avant”, and J.A.

Gregiore created for Hotchkiss, the “Amilcar Compound”, which was made in relatively small numbers from 1938 to 1940. There was also front wheel drive models from Georges Irat. Cord in the USA return in 1936 with the 810 and 812. BSA The first inexpensive front wheel drive vehicle to reach the British market, the BSA “Three Wheeler Twin”, although not mass produced, was made in large numbers compared with it’s predecessors and could not have been more different. B.S.A. three-wheeler 1929 A three wheeled cyclecar, as ultra light cars were then described. The specification in many respects was normal, being similar in layout to the “Morgan” three wheeler. With two wheels at the front and one wheel at the rear and a 1021 c.c. Vee twin-cylinder air-cooled engine was mounted in front. A simple channel-section chassis that was formed in the rear with a large-diameter central tube; the single rear wheel was mounted on a hinged arm having as an extension a leaf spring that was enclosed within the central chassis tube.

The major difference was the transmission that was similar in layout to the Alvis 12/75 including the inboard drum brakes. Four quarter elliptic springs each side were used for the independent front suspension. A four wheeled version was available only in 1932, the FW32. In 1933 a four-cylinder engine version of the three and four-wheeled car was added to the range. With a 1075c.c.side-valve water-cooled engine in place of the twin being the only major change. The three wheeled cars were dropped after 1936, the “Scout” series of cars being available from 1935 to 1940, being the last BSA cars. 1938 BSA Scout DKW The company DKW was founded by Jorgen Skafte Rasmussen, a Danish engineer. The initials DKW came from an unsuccessful venture, a steam powered vehicle, in German Dampt Kraft Wagon. Fortunately the company became successful as motorcycle manufacturers, with a factory at Zschopen in the German region of Saxony.

Between 1919 and 1930 the company made an assortment of rear wheel drive cyclecars and lightcars. The first front wheel drive car from DKW, the FA, later to be called the F-1, was introduced in 1931. It was an ultra lightweight car, weighing only 450kg. It had a water-cooled 2 cylinder 2stroke engine, mounted transversely in the chassis, with the 3- speed gearbox in front and the final drive assembly in front of that between the front wheels, J.S. Rasmussen The DKW FA powerunit. Twin transverse ½ elliptic springs were used at the front and the rear of the steel ladder chassis for the all independent suspension. With 15bhp from the engine a maximum speed of 75kpm was attained. It was made in roadster, cabriolet and saloon form. After the first revolutionary step of producing the FA, the F series of cars that followed evolved, with changes introduced as the model numbers progressed.

The F-2 a 584cc engined version of the F-1 was introduced in 1933, with a little more power and a little more speed. An engine capacity of 584cc was available until 1938.The F-4 of 1934 saw the spur gear drive between the engine and gearbox replaced with a chain. The F-5 also of 1934 had major engine changes using the Schnuerle deflectorless-piston loopscavenge system, which made an important contribution to efficient two-stroke engine operation. DKW F2 chassis. The rear suspension was changed to a dead axle and a transverse leaf spring.The F-5 was also available with 684cc engine. The F-7 had the front suspension changed to one leaf spring and wishbones. DKW F2 The last model before the Second World War was the F-8. That had a revised chassis frame incorporating rack and pinion steering and an engine of 589cc. In 1939 a 692cc engine was fitted in some models and was made until 1942.

After the war, two versions of the F series were produced. The factory at Zwickau were the DKW were produced before the war was then in the DDR, the eastern communist part of Germany and a car named the IFA F-8 was produced there from 1948 until 1955.The second F series car the DKW F-89 was made in Dusseldorf in West German, by the pre-war management. Based on the F-8 but with the 684cc engine moved ahead of the front wheels. This was in production from 1950 until 1954. Between 1931 and 1955 around 300,000 FA’s to F-89’s had been made. These cars can justifiably be claimed to the first mass produced front wheel drive cars, the fore runner’s to all the millions produced since. DKW F5 chassis. J.S. Rasmussen the founder of DKW took over the ailing Audi concern in 1928, making DKW along side the Audi’s at their Zwickau factory.

To counter the worsening economic crisis in the German motor industry, in 1932, DKW, Audi and two other motor manufacturers located in Saxony Wanderer and Horch, merged to form Auto Union AG. One of the first products of the merger was the Audi “Front”, which was as inferred by it’s name was a front wheel drive car. It had a 2.3 litre six-cylinder engine designed by Professor Porsche and made by Wanderer. That was mounted behind the final drive and four-speed gearbox as in the Tracta. With power steering system made under licence to a US design combined with a ZF steering box. The box section backbone chassis had transverse leaf springs front and rear, combined with wishbones at the front and swing axles at the rear. The cars place in the market was similar the Audi’s produced today, being of medium price and high quality. It was made from 1933 to 1938 in the Horch factory in Zwickau. 1934 Audi Front Adler. Adler of Franfurt-on Main, Germany, started by making bicycles in 1880, later typewriters and commenced car production in 1900.

The first of their front wheel drive cars, the Trumpf, was designed by the company technical director of the time, Rohr. This was in 1932. As well as front wheel drive, the car had other advanced features, The body was electrically welded to the box section chassis, making it a near monocoque. All independent suspension using torsion bars and rack and pinion steering. The layout of the power train was similar to the Tracta and the Alvis, with the final drive at the front, with the four-speed gearbox next and then the engine. This resulted in a long bonnet, which fortunately was still fashionable at the time. Tracta joints were used in the outboard end of the transmission. The car was light for its time, being just over a thousand kilos in 4-seat saloon form. The engine and the brakes were as most other cars of that date, the engine being a side-valve, four, of 1500cc to 1700cc producing 38bhp to 40bhp, and the brakes were mechanically operated.

Adler Trumpf The Trumpf-Junior, a smaller version of the Trumpf, also designed by Rohr, with a 995cc engine, was produced from 1934. Both cars were available in five body styles. By 1941 when all Adler car production ceased. It was not to resume after the war. Just over twenty five thousand Trumpf's also almost one hundred and three thousand Trumpt-Juniors had been made. Adler Trumpf-Junior Cord. In 1936 another car bearing the name "Cord" was produced, the V-8 engined 810. It is mainly remembered for its stunning body style, designed by Gordon Buehig it was an instant classic. This time the designers had got the layout right, with the gearbox, a four -speed Bendix preselector unit, ahead of the final-drive unit and the engine behind, making a much more compact assembly. Front suspension was by independent trailing arms and a transverse leaf spring.

The engine, a 288.6 cubic inch Lycoming product, produced 125bhp in basic form, but a supercharged version could be fitted producing 190bhp,with a top speed of 110mph. A longer wheelbase version was also produced the 812, but a combined total of less than three thousand examples of the 810 and 812 were made by the time the Cord empire collapsed in 1937. Citroen Andre Citroen, set a design team to work on the car that was to become the Traction Avant in 1932. He had decided to produce a car of advanced specification that would replace all his existing models. The whole car was to be completely new. It would have front wheel drive and a low profile similar to the Adler Trumpf, combined with a monocoque chassis/body unit, built using the Budd process. Another feature to be incorporated into the design and almost it's undoing, was the use of a torque converter in place of a conventional gearbox. As is the practice today, the "Traction Avant", was designed by a team, each being a specialist in the various components.

The design team leader was Andre Lefebvre. Andre Citroen had recruited him for the task when the project was falling behind schedule. Citroen had taken a licence, and purchased machinery from America, to manufacture the "Rzappa joint". An early 7cv Traction Avant This was to be used at the outboard end of the drive shafts. But then thought better of it. It would be almost thirty years before versions of the "Rzappa joint" were used successfully in mass-produced cars. Then J.A.Gregoire was retained as a transmission consultant. "Tracta joints" were fitted to the prototypes and some early production cars, but proved unsatisfactory. According to J.A. Gregoire's account, this was due to poor quality machining. The "Tracta joints", were then replaced by the double Hardy Spicer joints that were used through out the life of the car. The drive joints were not the only problem with the early cars. The torque converter proved to be unsuitable for the car and if the design team had not produced a conventional gearbox quickly the whole project would have failed.

The layout of the power train was more compact than the Tracta's and the Adler's, in that the gearbox was ahead of the final drive, with engine behind and the weight distribution was improved as a conscience. Citroen “Traction Avant” power train. The gear box is on the left, ahead of the final drive The suspension was independent on all wheels with torsion bar springs and at first friction dampers. The friction damper, were replaced by telescopic hydraulic dampers in 1935. The steering gearbox was initially of worm and sector type, but was discarded for rack and pinion in 1936. Hydraulic brakes completed an advanced specification. Over two hundred and eighty thousand of the various 7cv and 11cv models were produced between 1934 and 1940. But Andre Citroen did not live to see the Traction Avant flourish. The early problems with the car, ruined Citroen and the company past to other hand, soon after which Andre Citroen died.

The history of Citroen an anniversary of a famous company: 75 years of Citroën automobiles; 60 years of Citroën Traction Avant 75 years ago the interesting and colourful history of Citroën automobiles began. In 1934, Citroën presented their first front-wheel drive cars and started a revolution in auto production. André Citroën was born in 1878. A successful student, he attended the Polytechnical school in Paris and worked for some time with the car company "Mors". In 1905, at the age of 27, he founded his first company, "André Citroën & Cie", which was changed to "Société des Engrenages Citroën" (Citroën Cog Factory ) in 1913. Also in 1913, Citroën founded yet another company to take advantage of a patent he had regarding carburettors. This company was located on the Quai de Javel (today Quai André Citroën) in Paris.

Early in his career, Citroën was impressed by the production methods of Henry Ford , who pioneered the use of the assembly line as early as 1908 for the Ford Model T in the U.S.A. Citroën understood that he had to analyse production methods and that he had to divide it into single logical steps in order to calculate the industrial production of an item mathematically. With the outbreak of World War I, André Citroën received a commission, beginning in 1915, to produce 7,500 75mm grenades - good work for a small company. Citroën was able to convince the French Ministry of Defence that he could deliver much bigger quantities with industrial production. The company grew rapidly and in 1918 it occupied 80,000 square metres at the Quai de Javel in Paris where, in 1914, there were still garden allotments. 12,000 people were occupied producing grenades. At the peak the output reached 20,000 pieces! The company was very progressive in the social field: a cantine and a kindergarden were present as was a dental clinic.

During the war, Citroën started thinking about the "days after". He talked about building 1,000 automobiles a day at a price that would enable everyone to own one of his cars. 1919: The first "Citroën"... By 1919, the first Citroën auto was produced - the Type A. Equipped with a 4-cylinder engine of 1326 cubic cm (10-fiscal-HP) capacity, it was capable of a top speed of 65km/h. One was able to order six different body styles directly from the factory, this at a time where one got the chassis and the engine from other makers and had it completed by a coachworks of your own choice! Even the spare wheel and the lighting were included in the price of F7,205. From June to December 1919, Citroën produced 2,500 cars. In 1920, they had already produced 20,200! Also in 1920, Citroën first tested half-track autos called "Autochenilles" using the patents of Adolphe Kégresse.

In impassable regions they were very useful, and their reliability helped to improve the reputation of Citroën as an automobile manufacturer. The half-tracks were not only used by the armed forces, in road-building and agriculture, but also by different post offices, among them the Swiss PTT which equipped their "Autochenilles" with skis at the front. In 1921, the first Citroën Taxis appeared on the streets of Paris. The big news at the Paris Motor Show in October was the 5 hp Type C, a real car for the people with 856 cubic cm engine, 60 km/h top speed, available as a Torpedo with two seats. The car was first available in the summer of 1922 and was sold only in one colour: lemon yellow. The small car was a real success. In 1924, it was presented as a three-seater. The third seat was in the rear in the middle and the passenger put his feet between the two front seats. This version, named the "Trèfle" (Clover Leaf) gained a great deal of fame.

Up to March 1926, it stayed in production with only minor changes - about 90,000 were built and quite a number still exist today. After the B12 of 1925, the B14 was introduced in 1927, driven by a 1538 cubic cm engine with 22 true horsepower. It was followed by the C4 in 1929. Also in 1929, the C6 was introduced - the first six cylinder Citroën (2442 cubic cm), and the first Citroën to reach 100 km/h. André Citroën was very successful in drawing the public's attention with elaborate publicity campaigns. In 1922, airplanes wrote the name "Citroën" in the sky over Paris; in 1925 the name "Citroën" could have been read on the Eiffel tower : 200,000 lightbulbs were necessary and several kilometers of cabling! Expeditions...

From 17 December 1922 to 7 January 1923, a Citroën expedition crossed the Sahara desert by automobile for the first time, from Algiers to Timbuktu, a distance of 3,200 kms, averaging 150 kms a day with 10hp B2 half-tracks - an enormous effort for the period! From 28 October 1924 to 26 June 1925, a further expedition, the famous "Croisière Noire" (Black Journey) crossed the African continent from Algeria through Kenya to the Cape of Good Hope. On 4 April 1931, the "Croisère Jaune" (Yellow Journey) started in Beruit. The goal was to reach Beijing with the C4 and C6 type half-tracks. In between there were deserts, glaciers, mountains, and war zones. One C4F reached 4,208m and set a world altitude record for cars. In the Himalayas, part of the way through, the paths were not driveable and the cars had to be taken apart, carried through, and rebuilt afterwards!

On 12 February, 1932 the cars triumphantly reached Beijing. Records... From the beginning of 1932, the C4 and C6 were equipped with the "Floating Power" engine which was mounted in a new way, using a Chrysler patent. The engine was secured with rubber mounts instead of being bolted directly to the chassis, thereby eliminating major engine vibrations. The first cars using this new engine mounting were recognizeable with a stylized swan in front of the Citroën double chevrons. By the end of 1932, the types "8", "10", and "15" followed, called "Rosalie" after a Citroën "Rosalie 8" which covered 300,000 km in 134 days with an average of more than 93 km/h and breaking not less that 106 world records! More runs of the same kind followed and proved the reliability of the small Citroën. André Citroën advertised his products not just to adults. Soon he produced toy cars to capture the attention of children - his future customers.

The first words he wanted them to be able to speak were: "Mama, Papa, Citroën". Financial problems... The first clouds on the Citroën horizon appeared after the Wall Street crash of October 1929 and the ensuing world crisis. In 1933, at the peak of the crisis, Citroën rebuilt the factories at the Quai de Javel completely, in order to have sufficient capacity to produce his impending new model. Enormous halls were built. 6,000 guests were invited to the grand opening. The rebuild was a big challenge for the company. In April 1933, t here was a strike which served to amplify the difficulties. The cars didn't sell well abroad because of the exchange rates and the restrictions certain countries introduced against foreign products. By the end of 1933, Citroën had so many debts, that the Michelin company had to be called for financial help. With front wheel drive to the future...

Within a short period the Traction Avant Type "7" was developed - a car that was radically different in all respects to other cars of the time: self-supporting uni-body, front-wheel drive, torsion bar suspension, to mention only the most important features. The first plans even called for an automatic two-speed transmission - a feature that had to be dropped. The most significant feature was that the car was about 20 cm lower than its predecessors and contemporaries - with equal or even more interior space. Thanks to the low center of gravity and front-wheel drive, the Traction Avant has superb road-holding. In April 1934, production started - at the beginning with 1303 cubic cm and 32 hp (good enough for 95 km/h) but lots of small problems. In the same year, much better versions with 1529 cubic cm and 1911 cubic cm (7S for Sport - top speed 110 km/h) were presented. The car was then called the "11CV" and made the name "Traction Avant" known world-wide. With only small changes it stayed in production until 1957.

The following body styles were offered by the Citroën factory: Shorter wheel base called the "Légère": Berline, Cabriolet, and Faux-Cabriolet (Coupé) 12cm wider and medium (20 cm longer) wheelbase, called "Large": Berline, Cabriolet, and Faux-Cabriolet Same size but even longer (a further 20cm) wheelbase: the Familiale and Conduite Intérieure. In 1934, about twelve of the famous 8-cylinder prototypes with front-wheel drive were built - the "22CV". Three of them were presented to the public on the occasion of the Paris Auto Show. They never saw series production and none of them are known to exist today. During the same car show, Citroën showed a publicity film in which you can see a new Traction Avant being pushed over the edge of a 8 m high cliff. It lands on its nose, is thrown back, lands on its nose again, and sits on its four wheels after rolling. Only one window is broken, all doors open and close. The car drives off by its own means!

By this time all weaknesses in the 4-cylinder model were eliminated, but for André Citroën it was too late. By 21 December 1934, the company went into bankruptcy. André Citroën died as a poor broken man on 3 July 1935. Under Michelin the company developed further. At the beginning of 1939, the 11CV Commerciale on the long wheelbase was presented. More importantly, the Traction Avant 15/Six was introduced with a top speed of 130 km/h and its legendary driving abilities. Its 2867 cubic cm 6-cylinder with 77 hp gave the "Reine de la Route" (Queen of the Road) abilities that are still quite modern today. As the underworld also liked this special fast car, it was soon known as the "gangster limousine". The police with the 4-cylinder models had great difficulties following their "enemies". During WWII the production practically stopped. The available cars were used by the German occupying forces and by the French Résistance. After the war the pre-war models were produced again, but only a limited range was offered.

The cars were still liked by business people, doctors, and rich farmers. In the years following WWII, most of the Tractions were delivered in black and that's how most people remember them. Unfortunately the Cabriolets and Coupés were not built any more after the war. Only some coach builders are producing small series or single items of the open cars. In Switzerland these are famous companies like "Langenthal", "Worblaufen" and "Beutler". During the Paris Car Show of 1948 the 2CV was introduced. Smiled at by all, this comfortable small car of 375 cubic cm started a long life around the world. In 1955, we start to see the end of the Traction Avant. "La Déesse" , "The Goddess", was presented and the automobile world was once more astonished by Citroën. "This is not the car of tomorrow, it's the car of today. It's just that all the other cars are from yesterday..." was one of the publicity slogans.

Indeed, it was and continues to be an unusual streamlined car - with front-wheel drive, height adjustable hydraulic suspension, power steering, semi-automatic gear box, one spoke safety steering wheel, and much more. Nevertheless it took up to 25 July 1957 until the last of the famous Tractions, an 11CV Familiale, rolled off the production line. The legend lives on! Today, the owners and friends of the Traction Avant are united in classic car clubs all over the world. Spare parts are reproduced, meetings are held . In Switzerland there must be about 1000 of the varying Traction Avant versions left. Daniel Eberli, 1994 Lane Motor Museum Oddball Cars You've Never Heard Of 3. Dealer Selection Receive your free dealer pricing information by completing your contact information! I’ve been into cars since birth. I’ve been writing about them for a quarter century, and I’ve attended a gillion car-club shows and concours d’elegance, so it’s always a special treat when I encounter some rare, obscure car or marque I never knew existed.

Well, in Nashville, Tennessee, there is a special little heaven on earth for people like me called the Lane Motor Museum. This very special collection is absolutely chock-full-o surprisingly delightful examples of the automotively obscure and unknown. Many of the kookiest cars and trucks in the collection are laughably bad home-built one-offs hacked together by car-guy Rube Goldbergs who paid no attention to many decades of accumulated automotive wisdom. (The collection includes not one but TWO one-off rear-V-8-engined, front-wheel-drive, three-wheeled, single-rear-steer abominations !) Herewith, nine volume-production car marques that were new to me and 11 more crazy cars I’d never seen. Aero The Aero company was founded in Czechoslovakia in 1925 to build airplanes but, like Sweden’s Saab, tried its hand at cars between 1928 and 1947 and became the country’s fourth largest automaker (behind Tatra, Praga—another unknown—and Škoda).

The Model 30 was its most popular, and Lane has two examples—a low-slung four-seat cabriolet from 1934 and a closed coupe from 1936. The impossibly low (for the day) bodywork and flat floor are made possible by the longitudinal two-stroke, 28-hp two-cylinder engine and front-wheel drive, and by the four-wheel independent suspension with frame-mounted pure trailing arm rear suspension. The floor is also aerodynamically flat underneath. Production: 7,780. A.B.C. The All British (engine) Company started out in 1911 making air-cooled flat-twin engines for motorcycles and cycle-cars and then graduated to manufacturing full motorcycles. They entered the air-cooled car biz in 1920 with a conventional-looking design that used the “radiator” as a fuel tank (frequently leading to disastrous “topping up” with water by unfamiliar mechanics and fuel-station attendants). They fled the car biz after 1925 but continued making engines for compressors and the like until 1971 (as a part of Vickers at the end).

Production: ~1,500 Georges Irat The company name Georges Irat was incorporated around 1914 in France, but car production didn’t happen until 1921 and remained rather teetering through the 1920s. Then a partnership with engine-makers Godefroy and Lévcque secured a supply of small “Ruby” engines. At that point a sporty FWD, 1,100cc 6CV roadster model like this 1938 model arrived on the scene to stave off financial ruin. That one looked sportier than it drove, but when the Ruby engine supply dried up in 1939, the subsequent 11CV model (like Lane’s 1940 model) got a 2.0-liter Citroën engine and four-wheel independent suspension with rubber springs. The company stayed in business until 1953.

Production: ~1,500 6CVs, 600 11CVs Rovin Robert and Raul de Rovin got into the cyclecar and motorcycle biz in the 1920s and really capitalized on France’s need for low-cost basic transportation after the war. The D4 appeared in 1950 as its most sophisticated model to date and met with reasonable success, powered by a 462cc, 13-hp, four-stroke two-banger. Production of the D4 ended sometime after this 1953 model was built, and the company folded in 1961. Production: 1,203 D4s Mochet Charles Mochet actually built pedal cars that adults used to get around from 1927 until the outbreak of WWII. (France truly is like a whole other country, n’est pas?) After World War II Mochet converted its cars to engine propulsion, and this 1956 CM-125Y is so named for its 125cc Ydral engine.

In those days no driving license was required for cars with 125cc engines; a 175cc variant was also available for licensed drivers. Production: ~3,000 Maico OK, if you’re into dirt bike racing history, you may know the Maico name, as this company made the bike to run in motocross enduros back in the ’70s. The German Maisch brothers got their start in 1926 building two-stroke engines under license and manufacturing bike parts. Later, incorporated as Maico Werke GmbH, they purchased the Champion microcar company to seize on the growing postwar demand for cheap transportation. In 1956, they stretched the Maico 400 chassis to accommodate four passengers but didn’t fully engineer the resulting Maico 500 (the Lane owns a ’58), and the added weight overwhelmed the front axle. This lead to excessive warranty claims and ultimately doomed the car business. Production: 6,301 Opperman European postwar demand for cheap cars was so great that it drew people in from every tangential manufacturing business.

Opperman was a British tractor company that commissioned Lawrie Bond (of three-wheeler Bond Minicar fame) to pen a cheap mini for them. The resulting mid-engine, rear-drive design (just like McLaren !) uses four wheels but puts the rears close enough together to negate the need for a costly differential. The steel-bodied Opperman Unicar made its debut as the cheapest car at the 1956 London Motor Show, claiming to offer big-car comfort. But despite the low price (£400, or $1,125) sales were slow. Production ceased in 1959. Production: ~200 New-Map In yet another motorcycles-to-microcars tale, the French New-Map company found plenty of takers for its line of Solyto three-wheelers. It was offered in three body styles: Fourgonnette Tolee (panel van), Break-Camping (window van), and Fourgonnette Bachee (as shown with a canvas top). They featured a single steered wheel in front that also carried the tiny two-stroke, 125cc Ydral one-lung motor, providing front-wheel drive.

Concerns about overwhelming the contact patch might be assuaged by the fact that output was just 5.5 hp, just as performance worries might be calmed by the fact that it only weighed 330 pounds. The crazy name comes from SOciete LYonaise de TOlerie, New-Map’s sheetmetal division. This is a 1959 model, but production spanned from 1952 to 1974. Production: 4,000 Baldi Carrozziere G.A.M.C. Baldi, of San Remo, Italy, built a line of Fiat 500-based Frog microcars aimed at urban buyers for whom parking and traffic were major daily challenges. The angular fiberglass bodywork measures just 85 inches long—4 inches shorter than a Smart car and 20 inches shorter than the 500 it borrowed running gear from. The two-stroke engine choices ranged from 125cc to 595cc. The Lane’s 1975 Baldi Frog is the muscle car of the bunch, fitted with the big 595cc engine and specced for rally duty.

Production: 300 Eleven More Little Known Cars Non-egg-shaped Tatras Hans Ledwinka was an automotive genius and was chief engineer at Tatra by 1921, when the company was still making front-engine, rear-drive vehicles. Earlier vehicles like the Lane’s 1927 T-12 truck featured innovations like a rigid tubular backbone chassis through which the driveshaft ran and a fully independent rear suspension with transverse leaf springs, as clearly shown by the bare-nekkid 1932 T-57 chassis on display. Early Tatra front engine covers are aerodynamically shaped to resemble a period Renault. No radiator was necessary, because the engines were air-cooled. And even after the better-known aero-lozenge rear-V-8-powered T-87 flagship hit the road, the conventional-looking 25-hp four-cylinder T-57 sold in far greater numbers.

Production: T-12, 7,525; T-57, 26,540 Wankel-Powered Citroën We all know that NSU was first to market with a Wankel, that GM spent a lot of money developing the Wankel rotary engine, that this powertrain was also intended for the original AMC Pacer, and that Mazda is the only company that really made the concept work. How many of us knew that in 1970 Citroën built a fleet of Ami 8 coupe look-alikes powered by Wankels? Not I. The plan was to build and sell (for 14,000 francs, or about $2,525), 500 M-35 “prototypes” to gain real-world experience. To sweeten the deal, they were provided with unlimited warranties. The engines didn’t run too well, and they cost a fortune in warranty work, so by 1974 the warranty was canceled and a generous buy-back program was announced.

Production: 267 Hobbycar B 612 I vaguely remember seeing stories about this crazy amphibian with the Alfa 164 taillights back when it was introduced at the Paris Motor Show in 1992, but I have never seen one in the flesh. This is one of the prototypes, powered by a Peugeot diesel engine mounted transversely amidships driving both the all-wheel terrestrial drive and the jet-drive for water use. A Citroën hydropneumatic suspension provided a range of ride heights and sucked the wheels high up into the bodywork when in the water. The seats could be turned around to face backward, but that 74-horse jet-drive with all this hydrodynamic drag couldn’t have made this much of a ski boat. With only about 4 inches of freeboard above the waterline, it was not suited to choppy waters. This plus the high price ($45,000) doomed sales, and the operation folded in 1996.

Production: 52 DKW Monza Conceived as an aerodynamic speed-record car, this little beauty’s svelte fiberglass bodywork is draped over conventional two-stroke, 1.0-liter, 55-hp DKW 3=6 running gear. Weighing just 1,800 pounds with quick sports car steering, the Monza was reportedly quite fun to drive. The name was inspired by the prototype’s five speed records sets in 1956 at the Autodromo di Monza track in Italy, averaging 87 mph over a 72-hour period. Body production was contracted to three karosseries, none of whom kept very good records. This 1959 model was bodied by Robert Schenk of Stuttgart. Production: Unknown, but believed to be between 70 and 240 Honda Vamos Who knew that Honda riffed on England’s Mini Moke, France’s Citroën’s (2CV) Méhari, and Germany’s (Beetle) Thing?

Starting with its microcar kei-class mid-engine, 354cc, 30-hp, air-cooled two-cylinder TN360 van, Honda cut the bodywork down to minimalist standards, fashioned a canvas top, weatherproofed the upholstery and instruments, slapped a cutesie name on it, and sold it in the Japanese market between 1970 and 1973 for $3,095. Production: 2,500 Autonacional Biscúter If you’re thinking this one looks familiar, you may be remembering the Biscooter, designed by Gabriel Voisin for the French market. That one, named because it was the size of two scooters, was well designed but never sold well in France. Autonacional S.A. in Barcelona, Spain, licensed the design, making slight revisions to the aluminum bodywork and fitting a 9-hp, two-stroke, 197cc Hispano-Villiers engine. Later in the ’53-’63 model run (this is a 1956 Series 100) the Series 300 cars were made of steel.

Production: 12,000 Fiat Giannini Camioncino Rome-based Giannini Automobili S.p.A. has been tuning and revising Fiat cars for years. Back in the Fiat 500’s heyday it produced a run of 50 Camioncino pickup trucks, starting with the Giardiniera station wagon body and fitting a drop-side pickup box. Only three of these are believed to remain, and all three are said to be in Rome. This one appears to have been a one-off home-built homage to these Giannini Camioncinos, though it does without the drop-side box and gets a canvas cover instead. Production 50 (originals) Citroën Coal-roller During the German occupation of France, gasoline was extremely expensive if you could even find it. So various companies offered elaborate conversion setups to allow a gas-powered car to run on wood, coal, or charcoal. The firm F.A.P. Elgazo Tarbes produced the rig that’s glommed on to the Lane’s 1938 Citroën Berline 11CV Gazogene, allowing it to run on coal gas.

One of the two large containers on the front fenders is filled with coal and ignited, producing methane gas that was then condensed, filtered, and fed to a special carburetor. It took 30 minutes from cold ignition before you could drive off, and then the horsepower was diminished by about a third, and the driving range of a single coal stash was just 30 miles. It’s believed 65,000 such alt-fuel systems by all suppliers were sold during the war, among which very few survive. Production: 200 Simca Weekend Simca was founded by a Fiat employee sent to France to procure scrap metal. Instead he stayed, became the local Fiat distributor, and then when Fiat bought the former Donnet car factory in Nanterre, France, he headed up the resulting Société Industrielle de Mécanique et Carrosserie Automobile (SIMCA). Fiat ties faded postwar, and by 1951 the Aronde (French for swallow, as in the bird) became Simca’s first non-Fiat-influenced design.

Flamboyant founder Henri Pigozzi wanted a convertible and commissioned Figoni to build a show car for 1953, but its structural rigidity was hopeless. The 1954 acquisition of Ford of France gained the company access to coachbuilder Facel, which built this gorgeous Weekend prototype. It was presented to a 19-year-old Brigitte Bardot for promotional purposes, and she drove it for years, but no other examples were produced. Goliath GP700 Goliath had been known as a purveyor of three-wheeled vans and cars when this technologically advanced GP700 appeared at the Geneva show in 1950. An early adopter of the ponton-fender look, it bristled with other innovations like a transverse engine mounted directly over the front transaxle to maximize passenger space within the wheelbase. Later innovations would include all synchromesh transmission and in 1952 Bosch mechanical direct-injection—the first in a gasoline engine, beating the 1954 Mercedes -Benz W196 F1 engine and the 1955 300SL to market.

The Lane’s 1957 GP700 E (for Einspritzung) is believed to be one of only five GP700s outside of Europe. Production: 36,524 (all styles) SZD Invalid Car Here’s a whole class of car I never heard of. Invalid cars. Originally designed to provide mobility for Russia’s disabled war veterans, they could only be procured through the social care system, leased for up to five years. Built by motorcycle-makers Serpukhov Motor Works, early examples were open-top three-wheelers with a top speed of 12 mph, but these proved wildly impractical in the Russian weather. Four wheelers that could manage 25 mph were introduced in 1958, and they were available with two control setups—one for use with two arms, one for use with one arm and one leg. The Lane’s 1980 SZD model is a later, improved design with a 17.5-hp, air-cooled, two-stroke IZh-3 motorcycle engine that can do a whopping 30 mph.

It was produced from 1970 to 1997, but the total production is unknown. Share this article in:

Question: Which motor car company produced the first front wheel drive car in 1934?
Answer: Citroen